Aaron March


Aaron March is an Italian alpine snowboarder. He represented his nation Italy in two editions of the Olympic Games, and eventually claimed a silver medal in parallel giant slalom at the 2013 Winter Universiade in the Trentino and top ten finishes at the FIS World Cup series since his sporting debut in 2001.

Career

March nicknamed himself as The Painter because of his love and passion on art and creativity; thus he relates it to his respective sport, "When I ride, I ride with imagination. Life can be rational but in the snow I can create and enjoy a new world. I love the pop art of US artist Andy Warhol, its genius and recklessness. He was an innovative artist who has broken the mould, as we have done with winter sports." Being a military soldier with the rank of a corporal, March also trains at Centro Sportivo Esercito under his personal coach and mentor Erich Pramsohler.
March made his official debut as part of the Italian squad at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where he finished fifteenth in the men's giant slalom, losing out to Austria's Benjamin Karl in a first knockout round by 2.27 seconds.
When his nation Italy hosted the 2013 Winter Universiade in the Trentino, March win a silver medal for his team in the same tournament, but he was defeated by Austria's Sebastian Kislinger in their final match.
At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, March qualified for two alpine snowboarding events by finishing third from the FIS World Cup series in Bad Gastein, Austria. As part of his preparations for the Olympics, March, together with his coach Erich Pramsohler and fellow snowboarders Roland Fischnaller and Austrian Siegfried Grabner, cycled a 3,100-kilometre stretch from Villnöß, Italy, and passed through eight different countries on their sixteen-day voyage to Sochi, Russia. In the men's giant slalom, March was disqualified from the tournament after missing a gate on his second seeding run. Three days later, in the men's slalom, March redeemed himself with a fourth-place finish in the small final race, but could not beat his former rival Benjamin Karl for the bronze medal by a wide 16-second margin.